The Afghanistan Papers: Washington Post uncovers secret history of the Afghan war

Story and photography by Stephen J. Thorne

The Washington Post has uncovered a secret government history of the Afghanistan war said to be more revealing and more damning than the notorious Pentagon Papers that put the lie to public pronouncements on the war in Vietnam. The 6,200-word story by investigative reporter Craig Whitlock details government interviews conducted between 2014 and 2018 with 428 insiders who had direct roles in the war. In them, generals, diplomats, aid workers, Afghan officials and others speak bluntly about failures in Afghanistan.

The bottom line: U.S. officials constantly said they were making progress throughout the 18-year war. They were not, and they knew it.

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The backlash against Japanese-Canadians

Story by Sharon Adams

On Jan. 7, 1942, a month to the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a wartime committee recommended to the Canadian government that Japanese-Canadians—even if second- or third- generation—not be allowed to volunteer for or be conscripted into the armed services, on grounds of strong public opinion against them.

It was among a series of moves that would end with so-called voluntary emigration to Japan or a move to internment camps for the duration of the war, their possessions confiscated and sold for a fraction of their worth.

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January 10, 1920

Drafted in 1919, the Treaty of Versailles takes effect, formally ending the First World War. It redraws the map of Europe and imposes punitive economic reparations on Germany.

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